Government seeks better cooperation around young children
Child health clinics, childcare providers, schools and municipalities should share information earlier and coordinate support.
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The government wants organisations working with young children to cooperate more closely, from maternity care through to primary school. This is stated in a letter sent to the Lower House by four ministers and state secretaries on Friday.
According to the government’s letter, the plans focus on children from babies to preschoolers. The government says closer cooperation should help identify developmental problems and language delays earlier. Parents remain the starting point, but according to the letter they will receive support more quickly when needed.
Child health clinics, childcare providers and schools should be better able to exchange information about a child’s overall development. According to the letter, the government wants to examine how this could be organised legally and practically. No new system has therefore been introduced yet; for now, this is a policy intention.
The government also wants to make it temporarily possible for toddlers and preschoolers to take part in activities together during school hours. This should make the transition from childcare to primary school smoother. The precise conditions and duration of this possibility have not yet been worked out.
The approach ties in with the Kansrijke Start programme, in which municipalities, youth healthcare, maternity care and other organisations cooperate around the first years of life. The government says this approach should have been introduced throughout the country by 2030.
Alongside education and healthcare, the letter also mentions families’ financial circumstances. According to the letter, the government is working on a new childcare funding system and is examining, in the longer term, a single scheme combining child benefit and the child-related budget. The ministers and state secretaries say childcare benefit should be able to disappear in 2029, but this still requires further decision-making and legislation.
The plans thus put a broad policy choice on the table: prevention and cooperation before school, rather than support only after problems become visible. Critics will mainly want to know how privacy, practicability and additional staff will be arranged. The letter does not yet provide a fully developed answer to this.
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One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The government wants organisations working with young children to cooperate better.
- Research will be conducted into better information exchange between childcare providers, child health clinics and schools.
- Nationwide implementation of Kansrijke Start is intended by 2030.
- A new childcare system and possible merger of financial schemes have not yet been fully worked out.
Left
Arguments Early support can reduce inequality of opportunity, but only if services are publicly accessible and families do not become dependent on market providers.
Values Equal opportunities, public responsibility and prevention.
Consequences More cooperation and structural funding could limit disadvantages earlier; without additional staff, pressure on schools and healthcare could instead increase.
Centre
Arguments A joint approach is logical, provided responsibilities, privacy rules and funding are clearly established in advance.
Values Practicability, legal certainty and institutional cooperation.
Consequences A gradual introduction could prevent mistakes, but visible results would probably emerge only in the longer term.
Right
Arguments Parents should remain primarily responsible, and the government should prevent additional registration and bureaucracy from dominating families and professionals.
Values Family autonomy, freedom of choice and limited government.
Consequences A cautious approach could leave room for tailored solutions, but could also mean that children with problems are identified later.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The core is based directly on the government’s letter of 30 October. The text clearly distinguishes between announced plans and established policy.
- confirmed The government sent a letter on 30 October 2026 about better cooperation around young children. — Mentioned in the news report by the Government of the Netherlands. source
- confirmed Child health clinics, childcare providers and schools should be better able to exchange information. — Stated in the section about a smooth start at school. source
- confirmed The Kansrijke Start approach should be rolled out nationwide by 2030. — Mentioned in the government’s plans. source
Editor's note
It is certain that the government has announced a joint approach and further elaboration. Implementation, the legal basis, costs and effects have not yet been determined.Sources
- Kabinet wil vliegende start voor jonge kinderen — Rijksoverheid.nl
More on this in Dutch media
- RTL Nieuws — „onderwijs kinderopvang”
- NOS — „onderwijs kinderopvang”
- Het Parool — „onderwijs kinderopvang”